Immediate Family

About Joseph Cohen Belinfante, I

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia article http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view_page.jsp?artid=580&letter=B&pid=0 Joseph Cohen Belinfante of Lisbon was the ancestor of the Sephardic family that eventually became a great Jewish family in Amsterdam. JCB left Portugal when the Jews were forced to leave or convert to Christianity. Interesting that he found refuge in a Moslem country, Turkey, as did the bulk of Jews expelled form Spain in 1492. (Though the JE says he died in Turkey, his descendants were born in Croatia and Serbia, which at the time were part of the Ottoman Empire, hence "Turkey." ) Many Jews made nominal conversions and stayed in Portugal. JCM is my 13th great grandfather and I trace my Jewish ancestry to him through my great grandmother, Nellie Theresa Murray (Sternberger).--Bruce Murray MacKenzie

The Belinfantes were called Cohen or Cohenet as they were Kohanim, decendents of Aharon. Joseph fled from Portugal to Dalmatia, (then part of Turkey) because of the Portuguese persection of the Jews under King Joao III